Necticut



J. M'. RICE, F. A. JOSEPH, AND A. D. RUPP. RUBBER roorwmz AND METHOD or MANUFACTURING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 27, 1918.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

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UNITED sTArns PATENT OFFICE,

Josnrn or. men, FRANK. A. .rosnrn, am) nnwvn n. norr, on NEW HAVEN, conmso'rxou'r, nssrcnons T0 n cnmnn & GOMIPANY, A oonronn'rrou or coni RUBBER FOOTWEAR AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application med September 27, 1918. Serial No. 255,901.

To all whom it may concern: A

Be itknown that we, Josnrn M. Rios, FRANK A. Josnrn, and ALWY'N Burr, citizens of the United States, residing at New Haven, county of N6W-HBJV8I1, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rubber liootwear and Methods of Manufacturing .on one surface. A narrow binding strip of friction coated' fabricds then cemented to one of the rear margins of the lining, after i which the lining is shaped to the last, fabric side down. The binding strip is arranged to extend be ondthe margin to which it is secured a su 'cient distance so that when the two rear margins of the lining are brought together at the back of the last it will overlie both margins and serve to hold the huing in position.v An insole consisting of a sheet of woven fabric and a relatively thick outer layer of ragstock is then placed upon he bottom of the last, fabric side down, and the outermargin of the liningis turned in andcemented thereto.

,A crescenhshiiped heel reinforcement cut from rag stock and known as the junior, is then superposed upon the lining at the back'of the last.

A heel plug cut from'friction coated fabric is next applied. This part consists of a D-shaped portionwhich is superposed upon the insole and a substantially crescentshaped portion which is turned up and superposed upon the junior. I

.Another heel reinforcement of friction coated fabric, known as the outer heel piece, is then superposed upon the previously applied heel reinforcing parts. It is somewhat similar in shape to the junior with the exception that it is firmed with a tongue adapted to extend to the top of the joint between the rear margins of the lining.

' The next etc in the old method is the application of t e rubber-outer. This part is cut full to provide materialist the rear margins of the quarters an'd the outer margin, to enable such margins to be grasped by the fingers in fitting the outer to the last. Considerable manipulation and stretching is required to conform the rubber outer to the configuration of the last and snugly fit it to; the lining with the result that additional surplus material ,isdrawn to the rear margins'of the quarters ind" the outer margin. The surplus material of the rear magins is removed by trimming with a sharp knife one of the.rear margins along the center line of the insole andlihen trimming the other margin with a pair of shears to adapt it to slightl overlap thedge of the margin first out. lheseam so formed is finished by the use of a. suitable stitching instrument. The surplus material of the outer margin which is turned in upon the insole is then skived off with a sharp knife along a line substantially coincident with the outer edge of the filler sole.

The various cutting operations necessitated by this old method, constitute very serious difiiculties in the manufacture of rubber footwear, as great expertness is required to prevent the knife from cutting into the lining, insole and various heel reinforcin parts. For this reason only. highly skilled operators can be int'rusted with the work, adding materially to the cost of inanu facture. In practice it has been found that i even when experienced'operators are employed the disadvantages are not entirely overcome as numerous seconds still occur as a'result of making the ,cuts too deep.

Another disadvantage of the old method is that the lining and rubber outer are separately fitted to the" last necessitating two difiicult shaping operations in forming the upper. r

Another disadvantage of the old method is that air lJllbTllBS or blisters are liable to'be formed between the lining and the outer and also between the various heel reinforcing parts, destroying the efficiency and value of .the article.

Another disadvantage of the old method is the difiiculty experienced in; centering the various heel reinforcing parts to produce an article of uniform appearance.

Another disa'd A ta it unduly at eertain parts resulting in an undesirable weakness of the rubber outer.

t'nrther disadvantage of the old method is that the various heel reiul'oreing parts are iinlividuallvtitted to the last ret uiring a plurality of shaping operations to mild the heel reinl'ore ing strneture.

An object tilt the present iuventioin aeeordingly, is to provide an improved method of nialntt'aeturing rubber footwear whereby the various dismlvautages noted in ronneetion with the method heretofore praetised are overeonie. permitting the rapid and eeononiieal produetion of a superior artiele of tootwear.

A further objeet of the )resent invention is to provide an artiele ol' ootwear of more rugged and eeoliolnieal eonstruetion and of more sigbtly appearanee than those produeed by the methods heretofore known.

Another objeet ol the present invention is to provide novel struetural elements adapted to siinplit'v the manut'aeture and redu e the rust ol' ru tber l'oot wear.

Further objeets ol' the invention w ill here but He! appear.

Referring to the drawings Figure l is a side view with portions eat away alid laid bark. of a rubber overshoe eml'iodving our invention;

big. 2 is a plan view showing the assemblage in the Hat of several of the reinloreing parts used at the heel portion ol' the oversboe;

Fig. It is a ,plan view showing the assemblage in the llat ol' the l'ahrie lining and rub her eover l'orinirqg the upper ol' the oversboe;

Fig. l is an enlarged view ol' the bark ol the heel of the overshoe with portions broken away to show the assemblage of the various parts.

For the purpose of silnplieity the invention will be deseribed in eonneetion with the manul'm-ture ol' rubber overshoes.

ln earrying out the improved method in one of the preferred ways, the l'ahrie lining l and rubber outer 2L whieh eonstitute the upper ol' the oversboe, are assembled to getber in the Hat. prior to applieation to the last. as shown in l ig. it of the drawings 'lhese parts are ut toexaet pattern to pro vide :1 \amp portion 2! and quarter portions l. The lining is rut from a sheet ol t'a rie having a eoatiug of rubber 5 on one side and the rubber outer is superposed upon the rubber eoated surl'aee thereof. 'lbe rub her outer is eat to a delinite pattern from sheet of rubber to provide an outer margin referably limited to lie within the area existing betneen the outer edge of the tiller sole and the outer edge of the insole when turned in upon the bottom ol' the last. in one ot the prel'erred l'orlns ol' the invention. the. rubber outer .2 is rut smaller than the l abiilining I so that the outer margin of the rule her outer will be spaced in from the outer edge of the t'abrielining as indieated in Ft 3 of the drawings. 'llns eonstrnetion avoid s packers of' two thicknesses of material at an desirable points on the bottom of the overshoe with the result that when the, filler sole is applied a substantially level snrl'aee is obtained upon wbieb to superpose the ontsole, thus avoiding the irregular bumps on the outsole wbirh have been present in footwear maIntl'aetured by the old method.

After the lining and-outer have been assembled as set 'lorth, a binding strip 6 01 t'rietion eoated fabric is remented to the rear margin of one of the quarters. extends beyond the edge of the quarter to whieb it is applied a sullieient dtstnnee so that when the edges of the two quarters are brought together at the rear of the last, it will overlie both edges and serve to hold the upper upon the last.

ny assembliie the lining and rubber outer bel'ore applieation to the lash the neeessity ol' stretehing the rubber outer to tit the lining is avoided. enabling a satist'aetory joint between the two rear margins ot' the quarters to be made at the renter line of the heel witholit eutting the rubber outer, as was required in the old method.

Another advantage of assembling the parts forming the upper. prior to appliea tion to the last is that it enables the upper to be titted to the last at, one shaping operatioin whereas in the old method two shaping operations were required. one to lit the lining to the last, tlle ot' or to lit the rubber outer to the lining.

Another advantage of assembling the rubber outer and lilting in the llat is that integral union of the two parts may b ol|- tained throughout by means ol' pressure rolls or other inst rtunentalities thus avoiding air bubbles or blisters whieh are trequently present in t'ootwear mamil'aetured by the old method. t

\ further advantage ol the method is that by eutting the outer to delinite pattern and snperposing it upon the lining its outer margin when turned in upon the insole will ex tend a predetermined distanee thereoh. oh viatin the neeessitv ol' eutting away sttrplns material as has beretol'ore been required.

"hen the upper has been applied. the in sole 7. l'orlned of a sheet ol' woven t'abrie provided on one surl'aee with a relatively tlllt'lt layer ol' rag stoek 4 is set in plane upon the bottom ol' the last l'alu'ir side down. The outer margin 1) ol' the upper is then turned in upon the insole and eemeuted thereto. a tie! whieh, lbeD-shaped heel plug 1 l'ornied ol'a pieeeot'l'rietion eoated l'abrie is set in plate upon the insole.

The next step ol the method eonsists ,in applying the heel reiut'oreing st rue ure. de ie'nated l'or purpose olNleseription.-the

This strip .tlO

: 2. of the upper and overlying the joint becounter. This counter comprises the heel iece 11, thesmall junior 12, and the large unior 13. The various parts are assembled together in the fiat in the order given prior to application to the last, The heel piece 11 is cut from a piece of friction coated fabric having a thick calendered coating of rubber Mon one surface adapted to form the outer surface of the counter. It is cut to exact pattern to provide a crescent-shaped or- -tion 15 and a tongue like portion 16. I desired instead of using the calendered coat of rubber 14 upon the heel piece, a separate sheetof rubber cut to suitable pattern may be employed. Thesmall junior 12 consists of a substantially crescent-shaped piece of rag stock considerably smaller in area than the portion 15 of the heel piece upon which it is superposed. The large junior 13 is cut from a composite sheet of rag stock and cloth and is somewhat similar in shapeto the small junior 12 upon which it is superposed. It is intermedlate in size between the small junior 12 and the crescent-shaped ortion 15 of the heel, piece. When the parts ave been assembled they are run through pressure rolls to integrally unite them together. term' counter as used in the specification is to be understood to mean the various reinforcing parts used at the heel of the article, irrespective of their number, arrangement or she e.

e vehen the counter has been built up as described, it is applied to the heelof the last, being superposed upon the rubber outer tween the rear margins of the quarters thereof. Although in the drawings, we have shown the rubber outer shaped to extend over the entire areas covered by the counter, it is within the contemplation of the invention to employ an outer having portions a sightly uniform construction.

cut away at the rear of the quarters to expose the lining beneath the counter thus efe fecting an economy of material. In fitting the counter-to the upper, the lower margins of the heel piece 11 are turned in upon the bottom of the last. During vulcanization of the overshoethe edge of the rubber coating 14 of the heel piece merges into the rubber outer 2 of the uppercompletely covering the ed e of the fabric ply of the heel piece, or ii desired. the edge of the rubber coating 14 may be allowed to slightly over hang the edge of the fabric, thus producing It to be ,particularly noted that in the method described'the various heel reinforcing ieces .fire superposed upon the upper, while in flzhc methods heretofore practised they have been between the rubber outerand of the method are that by The last an up of the last, and then the thick rubber outsole 18 is applied. A reinforcing strip of rubber 19 is nextcemented around the margin at the throat of the upper completin the assemblage of parts. The overshoe so )uilt is then subjected to suitable vulcanization to complete the article.

The improved method of forming rubber footwear, possesses the advantage that no delicate cutting operations are required, enabling a less. expensive grade of laborto be employed in the production of footwear. A further advantage of the method is that both the lining and rubber cover are'fitted to the last at one o eration effecting a material reduction. in the time required to build 'an over-shoe. effecting a substantial economy in time, is that the'various heel reinforcements are applied at one operation instead of individual y aswas formerly the practice. Another advantagf fof the method is that it enables the various reinforcing parts to be centered in the flat resulting 'in the production of a more uniform product. Further advantages assembling the rub ber'outer and the lining in the fiat the denger o weakening the outer by unduly stretc ihg it at certain parts is avoided, and the formation of blisters and air bubbles between the outer and lining is prevented.

The article of footwear produced by the method is characterized by the absence of a weak exterior seem at the center line at the back of the heel, presenting a more sightly appearance and constituting a more rugged structure than the footwear heretofore known.

Although we have described the upper and counter both being formed in the fiat, it is within the contemplation of the invention to apply a counter formed in the flat upon an upper formed by the old method and also to build up a suitable counter, piece by piece, uponan upper formed in 'While some of the preferred embodiments oi the invention have been set forth, it is to be understood that various modifications in procedure, and in the shape, number, rial and assembly of the parts may le tresorted to withou,t sacrificing any of the advantages of the'invention defined in the appended claims.

Havin g thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is i 1. The method of manufacturing rubberfootwear, which comprises applying to a per embodying a sheetof fabric, and an outer oi' rubber, superposing a multiply coun'ter'upon the upper, and finally subjectinu the assembled parts to vulcanization.

'2. The method of manufacturing rubber footwear. which comprises building in the Another important'advantage,

ate-

fiat an upper embodying an outer of rubber and a sheet of fabric, applying the up er so formed to a last, superposing a mu ti-plg counter upon the outer of the upper, an finally subjecting the assembled parts to vulcanization.

3. The method of manufacturing rubber footwear, which comprises building in the flat an up er embodying an outer of rubber and a s icet of fabric, applying the upper so formed to a last, superposing a portion of a multi-pl counter upon the outer of the upper, and finally subjecting the assembled arts to vulcanization.

4. ie method ofmanufacturing rubber footwear. which comprises building in the flat an upperembodying an outer of rubber and a sheet of fabric, assembling in the flat a plurality of parts constituting a counter, applying the upper to a last, superposing the counter upon the outer of the upper, and finally subjecting the assembled parts to vulcanization.

5. "he method of manufacturing rubber footwcar, which comprises building in the flat an upper embodying an outer of rubbcr and a. sheet of fabric,assembling in the flat a plurality of parts constituting a counter, applying the upper to a last. superposmg a portion of the counter upon the outer of thc upper. and finally subjecting the asscmblcd parts to vulcanization. J

ll. The method of nnuiufactnring rubbcr footwear. which comprises building upon a last an upper cmbodying an outer ol' rubbcr and a shcct of fabric. asscmbling in the tint a plur. ty of parts constituting a counter, supcrposing lhc couutcr upon tlic oul'cr ol llic uppcr. alul linally subjccling lhc asscmblcd parts to vulcanization.

T. 'lhc incthod ol' nianutorturing rubbcr loolncar, which coinpriscs building upon a last an uppcr cndnnlying an outcr of rnbbcr and a sliccl ol' l'abric, assembling in the flat a plurality ol parts constituting a counter, supcrposing a portion of the countcr upon tluoutcr of thc upper, and linally subjectiug thc aascinblcd parts to vulcanization.

"the method of mauul'acturing rubber l'ootwcnr. which compriscs shaping an uppcr of fabric and rubbcr upon a last. forming a luulti-ply conulcr of fabric and rnhbcr with an cxposcd oulcr rubbcr covcring, superposing llic countcr upon thc lastcd uppcr with an cdgc ol' tin-maid cxposcd rubbcr covcring in inlinialc contact with tho rubber olsaid uppcr. and \ulcanizing.

l).,'lhc lucthod ol' nianul'acturing rubber l'ootncar which compriscs building in lhc llul a. coniposilc uppcr having its loncr cdgo cut lo lllllhllt'll sizc. applying said uppcr and an insolc lo a last. turning o\'ci' and ccmcnting said linishgd cdgc to thc insolc, supcr posing a counter on the up er, and finishing and vulcenizing the arm: e.

10. The method of manufacturing rubber footwear, which consists in applying to a last a composite upper of lining and rubber, butt joinin the quarter portions of the upper at the bee portion of the last, up lying a counter to the heel portion, and time ing and vulcanizing the article.

11. The method of manufacturing rubber footwear which consists in applying to a last a composite upper of lining and rubber, butt joining the quarter portions of the upper at the heel end of the last, applying a composite counter to the heel portion, and finishing and vulcanizing the article.

12. An upper for use in manufacturing.

rubber boots or overshoes, embodyin a lining of fabric to form the interior of time boot or overshoe upper and a ply of rubber superposed upon the fabric, the latter being com posed of an inner portion to constitute the exterior of the vamp of the boot or overshoe, and an outer mar inal portion adapted to be ti rncd in upon t e insole, the ed e of said nnl rginal portion being spaced-in $rom the outer edge of said lining.

13. A counter for use in manufacturing rublier boots or overshoes, embodying 9. ply of woven fabric, and a ply of rag stock, the said plies being integrally united together.

H. A counter for use in manufacturing rubbcr boots or overshoes, embodying a ply ol' rag stock, a ply of woven fabric, and an cxposcd ply of rubber, the said plies being inl'cgrally united together.

if. countcr for rubber footwear, inelndiug a hccl piece, a small junior, and a large junior. all united together.

to. A counter for rubber footwear, including an outer heel piece, an intermediate small junior, and an inner large junior of less area than the heel piccc, all united together.

IT. The mcthod of manufacturing riibber footwear, which consists in apilying an.

upper as a unit rcini'orccmcnt as upper, applying the sole to a last, apply ng a heel a unit to the exterior of the parts, and vul- 'cani'mng the article.

in. The method of manufacturing rubber l'ootwcar, which consists in'applying a compositc upper to a last. butt joining the quartor portions of the nppcr, applying to the butt joint a heel reiuforcenicnt of graduated lhickncas, and finishing and vulcanizing the article.

Signed at New llarcn. county of New Haven, State of (onnccticut, this 'lt'ith day of August, 1918 

